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"Internet troll urged me to get an eating disorder": Heidi Range says she's happy with her curvy body despite pressures
After years in the pop limelight, the Sugababes star and former Atomic Kitten has learnt to live with criticism of her looks
She wowed audiences with her moves and stunning figure on Dancing on Ice and her girl next door beauty has made Sugababes singer Heidi Range a pin-up for men everywhere.
But good looks usually come at a price when you’re in the public eye and Heidi’s curvy shape has made her the target of Twitter trolls.
“Someone once tweeted me saying: ‘Why don’t you get an eating disorder, you look fat next to the other girls in the band,’ which was a bit harsh.
“Now when people criticise me I just think, ‘Get a life!’” she says.
The Liverpudlian is now a trim size 8 but says she has always had to watch her weight having yo-yoed over the years.
“I have never been really heavy but I have gone up and down,” she says.
“But the older I get, I have learnt to accept myself and when someone on a website is commenting on my outfit, I think, ‘Haven’t you got something better to do?’ I have. I don’t have time to comment on what earrings some stranger is wearing!”
Heidi, 29, admits she has noticed a big difference in her body shape since she was on Dancing on Ice last winter and has maintained her new slinky shape having started sessions with a personal trainer three times a week.
“I’ve always worked out and I enjoy the benefits of keeping fit. I like the way it makes me feel. But since I’ve been using my personal trainer, I feel so toned and healthy.
"I’m 30 next year and I feel the best I’ve ever felt in my life.”
Heidi is the longest serving member of all-girl band the Sugababes – their current line-up includes Jade Ewen, 24, and Amelle Berrabah, 28.
A member of the original Atomic Kitten before she joined the Sugababes in 2001, the sexy Scouser has been in the public spotlight for years.
But she says negative criticism about her body image and dress sense over the years has affected her confidence in performing live.
“Of course it hurt, I’ve had moments when it has bothered me. But I get paid to go on stage – it’s my job – so sometimes I have had to force myself.
"I don’t buy those magazines which make a point of criticising.
"I used to, but now I’m older, I know that all people have good and bad days, and who are they to judge people on what size their waist is or whether they are a nice person or not?
“I realise that if you eat well and look after yourself, you feel so much better about yourself.
"But that is an age thing. If I was my younger self and I was reading one of those magazines and saw what they say about cellulite, then I would be ashamed of myself. But now I know that 99% of women have it, so I’m not on my own.”
New line-up: Sugababes Heidi, Amelle and Jade
WireImage
Heidi admits the weight crept on gradually without her noticing until she took control of her diet and eating habits.
“I was touring and I wasn’t buying my own clothes – my stylist was.
"I was very happy with my boyfriend and having takeaways and nice bottles of wine and dinners.
"I was really bloody happy until I got on the scales! It was a bit of a shock then so I changed my diet about a year ago.
“At my peak, my weight was probably nine and a half stone and at my lightest, seven and a half stone. I’m just over eight stone now and I’m content with that.
“But I have even been criticised for saying that I don’t want to go back to a size 10!
"People have had a go at me, saying: ‘What’s wrong with being that?’ I just want to say, there is nothing wrong with being a size 10, and I have been that size for most of my adult life, but I just like being a bit more toned.
“I think anyone would be lying if they said they don’t want to be more toned. I don’t have the perfect body but I’m happy with the one I’ve got.”
Heidi credits her positive attitude to health and fitness in helping her bounce back from her break-up with MTV presenter and Capital Radio DJ Dave Berry last year. They had been together for eight years.
They appeared to be one of the happiest couples in showbusiness and got engaged when he proposed to her on holiday in India on New Year’s Eve 2009.
They were due to marry this year until Heidi announced their amicable split on Twitter in December 2011 and told followers about her heartache.
Although she is single, Heidi reveals she would love a family but frets that she would be concerned about any kind of bullying over their weight as she was acutely aware of the issue herself when she was growing up.
“Kids are so cruel to each other. I hope one day I’m blessed with children but it must be the worst thing in the world to have a child who is being bullied because of how they look; it would destroy you as a parent.
"There is a lot of pressure for children to look a certain way and it’s not fair as we are all made different,” she says.
Split: With her ex Dave Berry
Getty
“There is a big issue with obesity but I’ve always been conscious of my size from a very early age.
"I think because I was dancing in leotards from about three years old, I didn’t want to look fat. I was never one of those kids who ate loads of crisps and chocolates. From my experience as a little girl, the images you see from a young age of skinny girls with flawless skin are not like real life.
“Even in the band, we all have very different bodies. For example Jade – she has legs longer than my entire body and can eat whatever she wants.
"She’ll be sat there with a club sandwich and her long legs and I’ll be there with chicken salad and no dressing with my little legs!
"I’d love to have longer legs but that’s the one thing I can’t fix – and no amount of running will change that.”
Heidi did the Race for Life last weekend to raise awareness for Cancer Research.
“It’s a really special race as it’s all-female and everyone there is supporting or remembering someone that has been affected by the disease. Most people have been touched by cancer at some point, or a loved one will be,” she says.
She admits for the first time that she had her own cancer scare last year after a routine smear test found a problem.
“I went for my usual test and they found some abnormal cells and I had to go and have laser treatment,” she says.
“I was just like every woman who goes to the doctors and has been a few times for a smear and expected it to be clear. I thought I’d get the letter back saying everything was OK – only this time, it wasn’t.
“When I found out something was wrong, I felt sick and panicked. I was terrified.
"I did some reading about it and it’s not uncommon but still frightening. I went the next day for my laser treatment.
"I was only in for half an hour or an hour and the procedure sorted me out.
“This is why girls should go and have their smear tests every three years, because even if it was abnormal, it would still take more than three years to develop into something more serious. If you don’t go, you don’t know what’s going on inside and surely it’s better to be safe.
“It’s not a pleasant thing to have done and I was in a fortunate position where I could see a private doctor but it’s so important to do it.
"If I had not had it treated, it could possibly have developed. I know so many women who have never even been for the test, even my friends’ parents.
“Now I go every year rather than every three years and fortunately I had a letter a few weeks ago telling me everything was fine in my latest smear.
"Cervical cancer is something that can be prevented. Girls should just make an appointment and go!”
Dancing on Ice: Heidi looks cool with dancer Andrei Lipanov
PA
Heidi met Jade Goody a few times and the Sugababes performed at her wedding to Jack Tweed in 2009 shortly before Jade passed away from cervical cancer.
Speaking about her own scare, Heidi says: “I was aware it might not turn out well. Jade’s story is so sad and you can’t help but think of her. If fans are going to look to me for guidance I would hope it would be about their health.”
Taking part in Race for Life has added significance for Heidi as she lost her beloved grandad Peter – who she called Pop – to lung cancer when she was 14: “I remember him being ill and him suffering for a long time and going to a Marie Curie centre,” she recalls.
“It was awful as I saw the physical change in him and watched him lose his shape.
“He was always quite slim but he was also fit as he’d been a builder but he lost loads of weight. Everyone called him ‘Pop’ and he used say ‘smashing’ all the time.
“I went to stage school in Liverpool and he came to all the shows to watch my sister and I.
“It’s sad he never got to see me grow up and have success.”
Heidi, who ran the Race for Life with her mum Karen, adds: “It was especially moving for us both to be thinking about him.”
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Heidi Range claims she never gets asked out by men.
The Sugababes singer - who split from TV and radio presenter Dave Berry in December 2011 after eight years together - has revealed her dating life is almost non-existent because men never invite her out on dates and she would never pluck up the courage to take the initiative. The 29-year-old blonde beauty told new! magazine: 'I never get asked out. I wouldn't ask a fella out either - that's probably why I have only been on one date since I was 20!'' I don't really give it that much thought. It's not as though every time I go out, I'm going, 'Oh am I going to meet someone?' If it happens, it happens, if it doesn't, it doesn't. I don't go out hunting for men!' The 'Dancing on Ice' star is currently taking a break from recording with fellow Sugababes Jade Ewen and Amelle Berrabah, and is busy working on new TV projects. Heidi confessed that she is in a much better place then she was a six months ago and is ready to move on from her ex-fiancee Dave, but said her only dating experience so far has been disastrous.
She revealed: 'I have been on one date and he was really good looking but he turned out to be homophobic and racist, so we never went on a second date! That's a really big turn off for me.'
When four celebrities wear the same dress, it's got to be a fashion hit, right? Capes are huge fashion news at the moment, and what with Victoria Beckham being snapped in one over the weekend, we imagine they'll only get even bigger. This orange caped Maje number is a definite favourite of the celebs. Jools Oliver was first to wear hers all the way back on 9th November 2011 to the Jamie Oliver Foundation Fundraiser at Shoreditch Town Hall, London, teaming it with a black patent belt, patent courts and a snakeskin clutch. Next was TV chef Gizzi Erskine at the InStyle 10th Anniversary party on 22nd November 2011, who went for a similar look as Jools, going for black courts, black tights and a black belt, except opting for a chic 60's beehive instead of tumbling locks. Lisa Snowdon was next up at the Capital FM Jingle Bell Ball back in December 2011, wearing nude courts, a nude clutch and vampy black nails with hers (noticeably choosing not to go for a belt). Last but not least was Heidi Range who chose hers for the Pre-Wimbledon Party at Kensington Roof Gardens last week, teamed with a gold rope belt, cream clutch and multi-print heels. We think Lisa Snowdon's sleek but chic minimalist look is our favourite, but what do you make of these outfits, heatworlders?
AINTREE was transformed into a sea of pink as more than 5,000 people converged on the famous racecourse to take part in the Race for Life.
Record numbers took part in two 5k runs to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
Fundraisers ranging from babies in prams to pensioners, walked, jogged and ran the course yesterday.
Organisers said that 3,000 women took part in the morning event and 2,000 turned out in the afternoon. They expect that more than £170,000 will have been raised.
Skin cancer survivor Justine Sheils, from Maghull, set runners off for the 11am race.
The self-confessed ‘sunbed addict’, 41, had surgery to remove cancerous tumours from her chest and head.
Justine, who this month carried the Olympic torch on Merseyside, said: “I feel so lucky to have survived cancer and it was such an honour to be asked to set the runners off at Race for Life.”
Sugababe Heidi Range, who lost her grandad to cancer, set the runners off in the afternoon event before taking part with her mum.
Maria Montgomery, Race for Life event manager for Aintree said the event was a “terrific success”.
She told the ECHO: “It was a fantastic day. Of course it was very emotional because people were running for loved ones but the atmosphere really was wonderful.
“The sun came out and people stayed the whole day to cheer each other on.”
Good luck to all the ladies doing the 11am Race For Life at Aintree this morning. Me and my mum will be taking part in the 2pm race. If youwould like to sponsor us, just text HEID83 and your amount to 70070. All the money goes to Cancer Research UK x
"We're all writing in the studio anyway," she said. "It's kind of ongoing. But there's no plans to bring anything out this year."
Range's current bandmates are Amelle Berrabah and 2009 Eurovision Song Contest singer Jade Ewen. Their last album was 2010's Sweet 7.
Asked if she worried about whether her songs would be used for her own solo work, given to the band or used elsewhere, Range added: "We've all always written, I've always done that going into bands when I was 18.
"We've written songs that other people have used and vice versa. You don't worry about that, if the song's not right for you and it's right for someone else, that's a bonus."
Quizzed on her former band Atomic Kitten's plans for a comeback, she added: "I don't know if I'd go to one of the shows, but I think it's great if they've had a break and want to get back together. I hope it goes well.
"I was 15 when I was in the group with Kerry [Katona] and Liz [McClarnon]. I did bump into Kerry a few times when I was doing Dancing on Ice and said hello, but I don't really know them well,
Asked if she wanted to do any more reality TV after her stint on Dancing on Ice, Range said: "I'd love to do Strictly! I think I might be a bit better if I'd gone on Strictly than I was on Dancing on Ice.
"It's quite scary. I loved it, and I did get a bit better on the tour 'cos it was less pressure. Learning a new routine every week, and learning new tricks and getting new costumes. I love all that.
"I don't know if you can do them that close together, but it's definitely something that I'm interested in doing at the future."
Of whether she would judge a show like The Voice UK if asked, she added: "I'd definitely be interested. My first passion is music and the main point of music for me is about the voice.
"The main thing about Sugababes has always been about three singers, it's never been about who looks like what. My first love is singing."
To sponsor Range at the Race for Life, text her personal code HEID83 and an amount to 70070. There is no cost for the message and 100% of the money donated goes to the charity.
JustTextGiving by Vodafone is the official donation partner of Race for Life. To start fundraising with a free personalised text code, visit Vodafone.
Heidi Range
